Latest / National Immigration Law Center Freedom to Thrive Podcast / Ep. #202 Houston's Favorite Habibi (ft. Mo Amer)

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Ep. #202 Houston's Favorite Habibi (ft. Mo Amer) · National Immigration Law Center Freedom to Thrive Podcast

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Surely America is one of those places a lot of people go because there's the
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big, you know, best PR, baby, American dream.
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Come to the American dream. Anyone can make it, you know? So this thing,
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and I think a lot of people get here and be like, oh, this is not what the dream is.
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Hey, hold on. There's a lot of hidden fees in this American dream.
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Familia, welcome back to the second season of Milk's Freedom to Thrive podcast.
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Resistance, justice, resilience. But we have beautiful conversations with beautiful
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folks talking about how to survive, thrive, and get through these times because
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these are some wild times.
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Today we're going to have a conversation with Brother Raja Wala from NILC who's
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going to talk about their work.
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But before we do that, we have a special guest today. I'm really excited.
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I know who this brother is. He don't know who I am, but I know who he is, man.
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Comedian, writer, producer, actor.
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I'm so excited to bring him out here. The Habibi from Houston.
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El Oso Peligroso. The Palestinian Prince.
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Man, the one and only. Everybody give it up for the homie, Mo Amr,
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in the house, everybody.
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Hey, hey. Thank you so much for having me. Brother Mo, it's good to have you here, man.
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Man, thank you for having me. It's an absolute pleasure. And probably might
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be the best intro of all time. The Palestinian prince. El Oso Peligroso.
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The Palestinian prince, bro. What you think about that? And Habibi from Houston,
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bro. Come on. You know what I mean?
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Sounds like my tombstone. I would say the first time I saw you,
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I think I'd seen some videos circulating around with like Dave Chappelle and you,
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and you were telling stories about being in New York and ending up in like a
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dorm room with some college kid.
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You telling that story was the first time I was introduced to you,
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right, as a storyteller, as a comedian.
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Then the next thing, I'm watching TV and there's a show called Rami,
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which I think was one of the best TV shows ever written, in my opinion.
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And you were one of the characters.
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Yes. And you did, you were amazing. Your character is amazing in that show.
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And then I find out that Rami's friend, who was part of that show,
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actually wrote, they co-wrote a new show called Mo. Yeah.
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And that show, bro, was groundbreaking.
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That show, your first season on that, amazing.
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And on multiple levels, on multiple
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levels the rawness the humor
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you i think it was the first is it
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correct me if i'm wrong it's the first major series to
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have to star a palestinian refugee as 100
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the first ever created by a palestinian and first ever narrative sitcom to be
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ever filmed in houston as well prior to that houston has never had a narrative
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sitcom film being the fourth largest city in america being one of the most diverse cities in America.
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It was always like a shocking thing to me. And I was always a little irritated
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because everyone who made it from Houston, there's some massive,
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massive stars that have come out from Houston.
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They don't live here anymore. They like move, you know? And I'm like, yeah, Houston's dope.
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Like Houston needs to have, you know, a show that's, you know,
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Houston is essentially a character within the show.
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So when I wrote this series, when I started writing the series in 2014, yeah.
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This is when I had this idea, you know, is to put this show together.
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And it was Chappelle who inspired me to write the show, the series Mo.
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And it was very much based on my life and my experiences as a refugee in America,
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as I call myself a privileged refugee.
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You know, as you see a lot of there's a there's a huge scale of experiences
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from what a refugee can go through.
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And I'm clearly one of those extremely lucky ones that my mom and father were
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able to, you know, get me to a place where I can progress and have some semblance of a future.
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And it really shaped my entire life and inspired me to be a comedian,
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a writer and a director and an actor.
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And this is what, you know, those experiences is what led up to that.
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And, you know, did you, being on the Rami show and did Rami help,
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was he a co-writer on this?
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Or so he was a co-creator on the show so the way it works that rami and i met in like 2014.
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And i was touring with dave at the time and he
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wanted to do a show with me he's like mo we should do a show together this is
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way before you know the show rami or anything like that and i was very much
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like no i want to follow the traditional route i want to put out a stand-up
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special first that stand-up special will introduce me to the world and then
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from there i'll do the show,
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And when I was touring with Dave, he inspired me to write the, the, um,
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the opening he he said he said to me after i opened him
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he said man if you do like a short film at the top of
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your stand-up special it would be so cool and
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that and i was like short film and i couldn't stop thinking about it for a week
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straight i was up listening to like music because music is very inspirational
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to me in writing and visualizing the whole scene and then i boom it hit me and
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i wrote the whole thing out and i showed it to dave and dave was like this is
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genius you You need to save it for a TV show.
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So when I told Rami, I was like, yo, I'm not going to do that.
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I'm going to wait, and then we can maybe do something together in the future.
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So he went on. He took that, and he went on. He was inspired, and he made Rami.
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And then he asked me to be a part of his show, which I was like,
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oh, I'm very excited to do that. Let's get in and make that happen.
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Actually, he actually, because he maybe watches and be like,
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bro, I begged you to do this.
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Because I want to be real. I want to be real.
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So I really, I really was interested in doing the show. I really wanted to do
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the show. I just think it's important to like, I'm very protective.
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Like you think it's one of those things. And there's a lot of artists that are
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massive, massive artists that have said the same things.
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Like once you start orbiting around each other, the ideas become like one.
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Yeah. Since I wanted to do the show, I was just very protective of both of us,
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not just my ideas, but also Rami's ideas. I just wanted it.
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Individual like yo you do your thing and i'll come support
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that so once i was like yeah that would be
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amazing let's do this together and then once we
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all worked together he was just like bro you have to do
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your show this is gonna be so dope your story
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is crazy you know you gotta put this out
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and i was like yeah yeah yes you're right so that's how you know but rami very
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much very much trusted me like he knows like that i know the story this is my
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life and this is what it is so So it was just like let me run with it and not even let me run with it.
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He knows that, you know, part of a great team is like you got to know who's
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going to play the best position for all of us to win, right?
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So sometimes like for his show, I was there for him. I was running back.
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I was wide receiver. I was like, what do you need me to do?
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You know, I'm just here to win the championship. Let's go win the championship.
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And then for my show, he's like you're running quarterback. This is your show,
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run quarterback, and that's what it was like, you know. So that's how it ran It was a beautiful thing.
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And second season, to me, is one of the greatest seasons of television, period.
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Like, objectively. Bro, we're going to get there. We're going to get there.
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Objectively, bro. Objectively, 100%. Yeah.
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No, bro. I mean, all around. But I will say, after seeing your first season,
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then I just wanted, I'm like, who is this guy?
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Right? So then I went back and I saw all your specials. And I saw your first
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special that you put out.
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And I was just like, yo, one, it's because Arab homies and, like,
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Mexican homies, we look like cousins, bro.
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Yeah. Right? Like, I went to Morocco in January.
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And, like, I was kicking it with just my cousins. You know what I mean? Like, everybody.
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I just got back from there. I couldn't agree with you more. I just literally
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got back from there a week ago. Yeah.
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And then, you know, and then I found out how to say, like, you know,
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every time I meet homies, like, in Spanish, I tell them, hey, what's up, guapo?
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You know, I'd say, hey, good looking. And, you know, over there, you say, zween.
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Hey, my zween, my zween. You know what I mean? So, every homie,
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every good looking homie, I'd be like, hey, my zween.
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They'd be like, hey, hey. you know like it was mad love bro it was mad love
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you know and and your first special you really talked about how like you you
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how you connected with the mexican community with the latino community and it
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was it was amazing and then when you do your when you did your special.
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You're in your show your partner is a latina woman right your best friend is
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a is a black homie is african homie and the fact that like,
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For you, was that always a thing? Like, I'm going to make sure shit's hella
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diverse? Because a lot of times people be like, they'll make a Mexican show, and it's only Mexicans.
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Right? They'll do a white show, only white folks. Right?
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You know, it's a black show, mostly black. And you came in, bro.
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You're like, your partner's Latina, your homie's black, and you're in a mixed
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community with your Palestinian family.
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Wildly diverse. Was that always a thing? It might be the most diverse show ever
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made, baby. I don't even know.
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The cultures represented were pretty, pretty solid. Now, there's a lot of creators
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and whatnot and people in the industry that are like, we have to. There's like a quota.
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To me, it's always the story, you know?
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Yeah. If it's all black folk, it's fine. If it's all white folk,
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it's fine. It just depends on what environment.
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Like friends, for instance, you know what that is. You know what neighborhood that is.
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But if you're in my barrio, you're in Houston, you're in Southwest Houston,
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there's no way you don't have a diverse friend group.
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It's an impossibility for you
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to have a non-diverse if you don't have a diverse family group you're probably
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really racist it's very very hard and
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I don't think that it exists in Southwest Houston like it's
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more just cultural things like everyone's next to each other in Southwest in
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SWAT like everyone there's no zoning in Houston so you literally have like you
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know a corner store that's owned by Arabs the next spot is the African hair
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supply the next spot is a fast food Chinese spot.
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The next spot is a Vietnamese spot. The next that is a Vietnamese, you know, salon.
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And then next to that, it's like African foods and goods. And the next to that
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is a halal place. Like it's, and I'm not exaggerating.
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This is not something that, you know, just making up right now.
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Again, I think it's very, very important when you're making any story is to
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be authentic to the, to the location itself as well.
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Surely it relates to my friend group. So it's extremely diverse.
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It comes from many different backgrounds.
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I mean, the homies that I grew up with, my dear, dear friends that I've known
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since I was like nine years old that we're friends to this day.
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And of course you build off of that, but my high school peoples, it's a very mixed.
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It's like half, he's one is Italian, two Indian, two from India,
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two Argentinians, you know, one half Persian, half white, one half Iraqi,
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half white, you know, black folks from various backgrounds.
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Of course, Nigeria and Nigerians, there's a big population of Nigerians in Houston.
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So it's like friends that are from Nigeria. It's just, that's what it is.
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And of course the Latino homies like bro I can't
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I don't even you can't even count that you're in Houston bro
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like I don't even know how to you know how many
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Mexican friends do I have I don't know a hundred
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like you know what I
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mean it's like we don't
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even count like this whole thing is like ridiculous like we're
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all mixed and so Houston is a very diverse place and
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we're all like we're all one family in H-Town that's
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how we feel here and you did that bro and I just want to say you
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did that and not everybody does that and that
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that for me as someone like i seen that
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i felt seen i'm like yo this homie is creating
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the world that like i live in and or that i want to live in that i want to be
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a part of like and not everybody does that man you know i mean and so one is
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i know you had you had a crazy upbringing brother like so for like you know
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was it born in Kuwait, right?
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Palestinian parents migrated to the U.S.
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How was that? One, how was the transition language-wise, culturally, right?
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And then how did that shape you and even your comedy now, bro?
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We touched on a lot of things. Number one, I went to a British English school
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in Kuwait. My father was very thoughtful about education, was really prepping me.
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Like he had a really solid eye for that. He knew that he was heading in that
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direction and he has to learn English.
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And I had two older brothers that are already studying in America.
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So he knew that for me to get a higher education, for me to,
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in a new modern world, like English is going to be very important.
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Obviously Arabic was spoken in the household and I spoke Arabic fluently and
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still do to this day. It's, it's the English, right?
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So he prepped me for that, but there was a big difference from British English
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that I learned from American English.
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And then there's social and cultural dynamics that I had no clue on.
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So needless to say, I was a big target when I first came to the States.
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And then there's and then there's houston english you know
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what i mean there's like houston yeah exactly that's what i mean by the cultural
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stuff like there's so many things that are going on that i
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don't understand i mean i got to the states and two days
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later halloween happened do you understand how terrifying it
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is if you don't know that halloween exists and
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then an extremely innocent child and all of
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a sudden you walk outside and everyone's dressed like demons and
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ghosts and skeletons and strippers and
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i've never even seen cleavage you know what i mean like you
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understand how insane that is i was like we came to hell we came to hell my
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parents sent me to hell that's what's happening here i mean there was kids like
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dragging me and trying to drag me in the bathroom to summon bloody mary i'm
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like who the fucking bloody mary oh my goodness bro why are you guys in the mirror this is crazy.
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So it's that, you know? So it was really, really tough in the beginning.
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But then when it came down to sports, I really excelled at it.
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And when they saw me throw a football, I became pretty cool right away.
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When they saw me count their football 50 yards in sixth and seventh grade,
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they were like, what the hell?
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It was seventh grade, PE, where they were having throwing kind.
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I was like, yo, this guy is cool.
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I caught up pretty quickly, but it was one of those things. It was a ton,
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ton to catch up on. Yeah, man.
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And it wasn't the best neighborhood, too. It wasn't quickly.
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It just wasn't the best neighborhood, too. And I confused the hell out of Mexicans and black folks.
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So I had a whole situation where Mexicans thought I was Latino,
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and then black folks thought I was Latino.
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And I wasn't either. And then there was like a whole thing to adjust for the
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person that they don't know.
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And unfortunately, they're perceived. And what they do know about Arabs or Arab
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culture, unfortunately, was shaped by cinema or cartoons, and it wasn't a favor.
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You know? So it was one of those things. But we made lemonade.
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We definitely made lemonade. Yeah, you made lemonade, bro. And,
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you know, I want to kind of go back to even the show, What You Did So Well.
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And you brought humor and pain and vulnerability to the show.
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It's really about the complexity of the immigration system, right?
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Because right now, one of the main narratives you hear now is like,
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just come in the right way.
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Why can't people just come in the right way? If they just came in the right
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way, then, you know, you'd be cool.
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And your show really showed the complexity and absurdity, right,
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of what the right way means, what the right way looks like, you know?
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And for you, why was that important to show and how, you know,
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putting that together, what did you want to showcase?
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Yeah. I mean, you said it, right? This whole idea of the right way that doesn't really exist.
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Unfortunately, the system is set up for you to, the system is almost set up
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for you to like not do the right thing to get the right thing.
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You know, it's like, it's almost set up that way. It wants you to fail.
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It's very, very hard to go through the asylee process. People don't even know
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what that means. Asylum.
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They think you just, you know, they don't understand what that concept is.
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They don't even know what the word means.
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And it's those that seek asylum usually are leaving countries they can no longer
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live in, whether they're for political persecution or because of war or anything
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that falls under those categories.
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Then you can file asylum for any country, most countries around the world.
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And surely America is one of those places a lot of people go because there's
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the big, you know, best PR, baby.
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American dream come to the american dream anyone
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could make it you know so this this thing
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and i think a lot of people get here like oh this is not what the dreams
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hey hold on there's a lot of hidden fees in this american dream
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so it's yeah i wanted to make sure that i just uh i wanted to make sure that
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i i show what it really takes to become a citizen how hard it is and basically
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it puts you in a situation where you have to work your ass off and truly earn it.
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And if you're lucky enough to even get that asylum granted, if you get your
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asylum, you still have to wait five years before you can get your green card.
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And then you have to wait another five years, actually four years and like nine
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months, unless the law's changed to apply for your citizenship.
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So it took us 10 years to get our asylum granted.
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And then for a lot of complexities and a lot of you know, life,
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things that happened that kept delaying things.
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And then, so when we got our asylum granted, it took me another almost 10 years
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to get the actual passport.
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And that whole time you're living on eggshell, you're walking on eggshells because
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you're just like so worried because they could take anything away from you at
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any time. So you're not really settled, right?
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It's a very vulnerable place to be in.
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And it's a really, really tough battle to go through. And my heart is just,
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you know, broken over what's happening today. It's just really disappointing.
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Yeah. You know, I want to say, so this episode might come out.
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This episode might come out maybe I think at the end of the month.
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But I do want to ask, you know, we just had an election where you had Mamdani win in New York.
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Right. And now you have the first South Asian Muslim homie progressive.
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I want to know, like, how does that make you feel? What's your feeling?
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Damn, communist. You know what I mean?
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They're just taking over America. These socialists, communists.
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You just come here to America, you're just taking over a big apple.
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Oh, that's all right. Of course you use New York.
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New York, the only damn place. It will happen to you. Damn near won't happen here.
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You come on down to Texas, you'd look for a damn Muslim.
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You ain't going to fight over here in Houston.
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Well, it's a little ridiculous. First of all, congratulations to Mamdani and
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what a tremendous step forward.
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And just like any other politician, people should hold him accountable and hopefully
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that he can be supported and get those ideas out.
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I'm very, very proud of him. I think it was really disgusting what he's dealt
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with in the tabloids and with the newspapers, how they paint him out to be.
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I think it's really, really just widely open, like, accepted racism that's just
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flying out there. It's pretty, pretty, pretty gross, you know?
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And it just lets you know. And that's New York City.
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That's supposed to be, you know? Yeah, man.
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This is, we're liberals, man, you know? The epicenter of civilization.
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Yeah. You know what I mean? It's supposed to be the place where we accept everyone.
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No, no. Y'all racist out there. Y'all very racist.
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Maybe more racist than Houston or I don't think Houston is as racist I'm dead
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serious Houston is diverse over here we have a lot of people out here running.
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Obviously, it's a big, big deal. Just to be serious,
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I really, really hope that he's able to make an impact and truly make a difference
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to where everyone is so thrilled to have such a candidate that's really standing
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behind his words, and hopefully he'll be supported internally to get those things done. right?
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Unfortunately, we know all too well that in American politics that you could
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be hopeful and you could want to accomplish a lot of things.
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But if those against you don't want those things to be passed,
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they can really block you from that.
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And it's very sad. It's really actually gross. As a matter of fact, today, K.O.
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Chu News posted a thing that the Houston Police Department, so I need to totally
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take this away about that Houston's not as racist, very racist here too.
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So it said that the Houston Police Department went out to the NYPD saying,
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hey, guys, if you don't want to be a cop there, you have a home here because
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you're basically mom-dining one.
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Gross. Come on down here. And what is going on?
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Like, it really shocked me. It shocked me, really jarred me because I thought
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Houston was better than that. But it was just really –.
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I don't know who posted that, but that's wild. And I'm going to find out more about that.
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But it just tells you the state of the United States and tells you that division
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is still the number one tactic to conquer us all.
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Yeah, man. And it's really, really important to dehumanize certain cultures
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when you want to take from them. And that's what's happening.
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You know? I'll say, you use your comedy, bro, as a bridge, man.
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You know what I'm saying? You bring different communities in.
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You make fun of different communities. You bring communities together.
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And you really talk about, yo, how we're actually more similar than different, right?
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Like, do I do, like, I know, I mean, I'm in LA. I live in East LA.
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A lot of the homies over here, bro, they, man, they rock with you,
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bro. And it's like all the organizers, all my activist homies,
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like they rock with you, bro.
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You know what I mean? They love what you're doing. I love what you're doing.
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Do you see yourself as a progressive comedian, as a political comedian or just,
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hey, I'm a comedian just telling jokes and like you may like some,
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you may not, but like how do you see yourself in that way, bro?
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It's a really, really good question.
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Thank you for bringing that up. I am not a political comedian. Yeah.
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What I do is, I think Carlin said this, that I always loved it.
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I said, my job as a comedian is imagine me at a cafe having a cup of coffee.
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I got a notepad and a pen, and I'm just observing. I'm just taking notes.
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No, I'm mad, I'm upset, sad. Yes, I feel those things.
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I'm a human being. but to have full clarity to see the entire landscape is just sit there and observe.
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And the duty of a comedian is of course to make you laugh, but also to make you think.
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And additionally, it's to say the thing out loud that everyone is thinking,
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but nobody's saying that's what I do.
23:36
So, so this is my part, very small part, but a big foundation of my process.
23:43
And it's not, it's just what I've had to carry the last three years,
23:47
again, in the bucket of someone that's in this position, that's a Palestinian,
23:51
has a TV show, has never been done before, that's talking about immigration,
23:55
asylees, the Palestinian experience, while, you know, Gaza's being obliterated
24:00
and every institution on planet Earth is calling it a genocide, which it is.
24:04
And you have to kind of like, what are you going to say, Mo?
24:08
This is all I feel all the time. What are you going to do? What are you going to say?
24:12
The best tool is my art form. And specifically the TV show itself and then the
24:17
new stand-up special, Wild World, is essentially a bookend to the series.
24:22
It's one of those things like you see the character, what he goes through firsthand,
24:26
and then additionally you see through the stand-up what I had a little peek
24:31
inside to see what I was going through.
24:34
While making the show, what I was going through emotionally,
24:37
what people are thinking in the South on a global level, people were saying
24:41
out loud on social media, in like cafes and restaurants around the world.
24:47
This is what I was trying to capture in that special. So no,
24:51
I'm not a political comedian, but I surely, you know, I'm not going to shy from
24:56
certain commentary that, that is, I feel like a requirement of a great comedian.
25:01
You ended your special with you going back to Palestine, bro.
25:05
And I thought that was one of the most beautiful, beautiful videos.
25:09
And to connect that to a comedic video, right? Like you, you turn trauma and
25:15
pain and used and show that, you know, as a way to let people know,
25:20
you know, your experience.
25:22
And I thought that was incredible. That was in the second special.
25:25
Was that the second one? Yeah, it's in Muhammad in Texas at the end.
25:28
And I recreated that in season two in the mosque. You're talking about the mosque
25:31
story of going back to Boudin.
25:33
Correct. And if you look at all the specials, I literally called everything that's going on.
25:39
If you look at the first one, the first one, the Vagabond that's on Netflix,
25:43
you see me talking about Russia, Ukraine.
25:46
You see me talking about Palestine. You see me talking about crossing the borders.
25:51
It was like early, early stuff, right?
25:53
And border stuff, immigration stuff. And the next one, it talks about Muhammad in Texas.
25:58
It also, I have the backdrop of the Mexican wall between America and Texas and
26:03
the apartheid wall in the West Bank on each side.
26:07
It's there. that's that's my set pieces yeah whether you
26:10
got or you didn't is there and it has the bank CR work on it
26:13
which mimics what's in Bethlehem so those
26:16
are there and I'm talking about make God's I'm talking about border crossing
26:20
I'm talking about them building a wall I'm talking about Israel Palestine I'm
26:23
talking about very clearly even in the opening so I'm 100% foreshadowing everything
26:28
is happening and it's happened so that tells you that I've been really observant
26:33
it's not like oh oh, I'm so much better than anybody else.
26:35
No, I'm just paying attention and I'm listening and I'm writing it down.
26:39
That's what I do. And for better or for worse, man, history repeats itself.
26:43
And if we don't change it, that's what it is. Yeah, and I said that in the world.
26:45
That's what you captioned. I said history repeats itself time and time again.
26:49
Time is undefeated, time is fleeting, and time flies, and you can never make
26:54
up time. You can never go back in time and you can never make up time.
26:58
You can make time, but there's never enough time.
27:01
So that's like, yeah. And now you're a, you're a father, you're a, you're a father.
27:09
How old is your little one? I am a father. Yes.
27:13
He's almost two. He's a month away from being two years old.
27:16
And I would, I would say is how of being a father.
27:20
I'm, I'm 40, I'm 43 and I don't have kids, but I'm the oldest of six.
27:25
All my brothers and sisters, they got kids. My mom's oldest of 14.
27:28
So I grew up with a big family, but I, you know, I, I don't have kids.
27:32
And my question to you, brother, is how has being a father changed his perspective on comedy, on life?
27:40
You know, how has that experience been?
27:42
Well, the mom raises him. So no, I'm just kidding. It's amazing.
27:48
My wife is incredible about how she is with my son. It's like really just a massive blessing.
27:53
We're almost the same age. I'm the youngest of six, by the way.
27:57
You always say I'm the youngest of six. Interesting little twist there.
28:01
But never too late, bro. Never too late. Always find the right partner to have
28:05
it with, and I wish you do if you actually choose to and want to have that experience.
28:11
I can definitely tell you it's life-changing.
28:13
You hear this cliche thing, oh, it's the greatest thing that's ever happened
28:17
to me, but really, really has transformed me. Like for me, you know,
28:22
we've had some really, really, really tough losses in my family.
28:26
I lost, I lost my, my uncle.
28:28
I lost my, I lost my brother suddenly before season one came just out of nowhere,
28:34
COVID, pulmonary embolism, nobody that was, saw it coming.
28:37
And then shortly after that, my uncle passed and then my aunt passed.
28:40
And then before I filmed wild world, I lost my sister, you know?
28:46
So it just was one of those things that it was like so much tragedy that struck our hearts.
28:53
And then having my son come, it was just like from God, you know,
28:58
it was just like, here you go.
29:00
There's another spirit to brighten up the family.
29:04
And before my sister passed, that was her great joys, hanging out with Hope.
29:08
Yeah. You know, brother, I'm on tour right now.
29:11
Our band is on tour, and we're doing a Day of the Dead tour.
29:14
Oh, sick. It's called Hasta La Muerte.
29:17
Yeah, it's called Hasta La Muerte. Yeah. Hasta La Muerte. And it's a love song
29:21
that I wrote that talks about loving someone even in death.
29:25
You know what I mean? Like, that even in death, I love you.
29:28
Like, I love you, death and beyond. and we created this whole production,
29:32
but really to uplift the fact that our ancestors have been practicing remembering
29:37
their families and loved ones who have passed.
29:40
And my father passed 10 years ago this year, but he's not dead because I talk
29:46
about him all the time. He was a carpenter.
29:49
Did Jesus work? You know what I mean? He loved Sylvester Stallone movies. He loved Rambo.
29:57
And my dad always told me, Hey,
30:00
get your hands out of your pockets. Like if you want, if you,
30:03
when you're ready to work, get your hands out of your pockets.
30:05
So like, I think about my dad all the time.
30:07
I tell his stories all the time. So he's not really gone.
30:11
And as long as you brother, share your stories of your family,
30:14
your sister, your loved ones, they ain't gone.
30:16
And that's how they stay alive. And you know, and I thank you for sharing that
30:20
story, man. I appreciate that, man.
30:22
And I agree with that sentiment. And it just like, it's
30:26
happened naturally in my storytelling where my father
30:29
comes up and the fact that he exists in the netflix series through
30:31
the doc footage at the end you know i don't want to ruin
30:34
if people haven't seen episode eight and what are you waiting for
30:37
but it was just uh it's uh it's uh
30:41
such a like powerful thing that happened naturally of telling that story not
30:46
only of my father who's a big part of it but also you know my uncle recreating
30:51
scenes of my uncle my you know and my beloved grandmother it's like life lessons
30:56
that are baked into like dipping hummus You know what I mean?
30:59
The process is showing you how to live your life. Like there's a metaphor.
31:06
So it's just so much beauty. I couldn't agree with you more.
31:09
And always thinking of them, keeping them alive in that way,
31:13
keeping their spirits alive, keeping them alive in those that have come after
31:16
you as well is very important.
31:18
Because my mentor told me, he goes, how easily can you be erased?
31:23
He says, he got me one time. He said, name your great-grandfather from your
31:28
father's side. And I had names, but I didn't know who was who.
31:31
And he goes, how sad is that? This is the lineage you come from.
31:34
How easily are you erased?
31:36
And it just hit me hard. And then he told me like things you could do to,
31:40
to really be, you know, never forgotten is like impact society in such a beautiful
31:46
way through your artistry, through inventions,
31:49
innovation, you know, or be just a great human being that walks this earth. Those are the two.
31:55
And there's like, you know, there's subcategories within those things too,
31:58
but, but that's how you, uh, you stay relevant and always in the mind.
32:02
It's like my whole thing is that Ruby, the great poet, Ruby has been dead over
32:06
a thousand years, but he's always tweeting. He's tweeting every day.
32:11
He's got a Twitter account.
32:14
You know, he's been dead over a thousand years.
32:17
Somebody's like, all of his quotes, you know, that's kind of dope. Hey, that's real, bro.
32:24
And you have now created things that will live beyond you, man,
32:28
which is a beautiful thing. Like I've written songs that are going to outlive me.
32:32
You know what I mean? I feel like that is my gift.
32:35
Like if I don't have kids, I'm going to have these songs that are going to live. You know?
32:39
And then there's this elder that told me one time, he said, I'm going to share
32:44
it with you because he shared it with me. He said, hey, man.
32:46
He said, you're a storyteller.
32:48
And he said, storytellers sit by the fire.
32:52
Storytellers sit by the fire. And sometimes you're going to,
32:55
because you sit so close to the fire, you might get burned, right?
33:01
And you might want to get away because it's so hot. And he says, stay there.
33:07
He says, stay there. Build the callus.
33:10
Get used to it so you can sit closer to the fire and continue telling more stories.
33:17
You know what I mean? And a lot of times as artists, as artists,
33:21
bro, like we share stories and we get criticized.
33:24
We get critiqued. Hey, why aren't you talking about this? Why aren't you talking
33:28
about that? And I know, bro, like my parents were undocumented when they came.
33:31
Like, how do we talk about it? And through my art. Yeah, absolutely.
33:36
Through art, through songs, through whatever, whatever platform that you have. And I hear that.
33:40
Yeah, we have to do that. And to just to see the complete loss of empathy and
33:45
humanity in these things.
33:46
And to see these fucking people, like, get off on arresting these people is
33:52
so in front of their children in schools.
33:55
Yeah. It's just so gross, bro.
33:58
Brother Mo, you have gone through personal and, you know, personal obstacles,
34:04
political obstacles, family obstacles, immigration obstacles.
34:09
What is the thing that keeps you going? What's the fire in the belly, brother?
34:13
Like, what's something that gives you hope right now? It is absolutely true that I've been...
34:21
Through many struggles, emotional, philosophical, physical, emotional,
34:28
family loss, just, you know, on many, many levels, I felt that.
34:34
And, you know, you always have to keep pushing.
34:38
Like, there's no real explanation. Because many times I'd want to,
34:42
like, I don't know about this, or I feel in those little whispers that come
34:46
in, they just make me stronger, to be honest.
34:49
So every time a low hits, it's very important to feel it and to understand it
34:56
because you don't want to be back there again.
34:59
And you'll be tested and tested over and over again.
35:03
And it's very, very important to push through those things and persevere and
35:07
to make sure that you're better on the other side, not angrier,
35:10
not full of hatred, not bitter, not upset. that to be honest with you,
35:15
I've never felt freer in my whole life.
35:18
Doing a show like mine, I feel like, you know, particularly like season two,
35:22
what I was able to accomplish with that and do, and the story I was able to
35:25
tell, feels like I fulfilled a big purpose in my life.
35:28
And all the struggle and just filth that I had to go through to get that story
35:36
out, it's really, at some points, I fathom that.
35:40
I'm like, wow, I can't even, I don't even, it's just, I don't even believe it
35:44
sometimes, you know, like I was able to pull that off.
35:47
So it's really, really important to not quit.
35:50
You know, that's when you're not going to make it is when you quit.
35:53
That's my mentor always taught me.
35:54
But my inspiration is always my family, always knowing that it could be a lot worse.
36:01
Whatever going through is not as bad as somebody else might be going through and gratitude. Yeah.
36:06
That is one of the biggest things, understanding gratitude and being so grateful
36:12
for what you do have and you know so many people don't have.
36:15
And it's such a responsibility to put your big boy pants on and keep going.
36:22
And for me, it's faith, family, and those relationships that I hold with my
36:30
family and the divine is what keeps me strong.
36:33
Because, you know, it's hard out here. It is hard.
36:36
I'm not saying it's not, but that's really what motivates me is like being able
36:41
to tell stories, being able to do things that I, you know, dreamt of as a little
36:46
nine-year-old kid. Now I have the opportunity to do that.
36:49
So, because you got to grind and get through them, those emotional and spiritual
36:54
and physical hurdles that you have to go through is part of the growth.
36:59
And that's going to make it so much sweeter when you, you know,
37:03
accomplish what you want in your life. So Mo, this has been an amazing conversation.
37:10
You're a busy dude You're el oso peligroso You know what I mean?
37:14
You got a lot So I want to share with
37:16
you one piece And then
37:19
I'd like to ask you Where people can find your information What's
37:22
coming up and what's next But I want to share with you A thing
37:25
I wrote a long time ago And back then it wasn't crazy But
37:28
when I say today Sometimes it rubs people the wrong
37:31
way So it goes like this from gaza to
37:34
honduras guatemala vietnam i'm dropping
37:37
this verse for all those who drop bombs those
37:40
creating borders and taking away my mom border
37:44
children be rising and we rise to this song you
37:47
know what i'm saying brother so i say that to you man as someone i see out there
37:50
doing the work i appreciate you man from artist to artist you know me gracias
37:55
man and where can people find you what's coming up what's next from mo amir
37:59
man first of all that was beautiful i can't just jump into like what's next
38:02
for me that was really really beautiful man.
38:06
Wow. It was very, very powerful. You can find me on Instagram,
38:10
Mo Ammer. It's M-O-A-M-E-R.
38:13
It's just my name.
38:14
Really, I want everybody to check out season two of Mo and the new special I
38:19
just dropped, Wild World.
38:21
It's something that my soul is in both of those things and my work,
38:25
but really just matured in such a beautiful way over the last three to five years.
38:32
So I think they're incredible, and I'm very, very excited for everyone to see
38:37
it, especially if those that really understand what's happening and those who
38:40
don't understand what's happening.
38:41
These are both very, very important pieces of art that I would love people to see.
38:46
I mean, next, I'm working on it. I'm cooking. I'm working on a movie.
38:49
I want to be touring again. Just writing, man, constantly writing.
38:53
Remember, writing is your best savings account. It's the best savings account. It's writing.
38:59
That's it. There it is, bro. You need to do a masterclass, bro.
39:04
I need a masterclass. Put that on the list. No, I will. All right, we'll do it.
39:08
Masterclass. Brother Mo, thank
39:10
you so much, man. This is the National Immigration Law Center's podcast.
39:14
Beautiful. And the work that you've done, like your storytelling,
39:17
bro, is a beautiful, bright light.
39:19
You know, there's a saying like, stars only shine in the dark.
39:22
And then these times, bro, we shine in, man. And that's how we see each other,
39:27
man. And your work and your comedy and the way you use trauma and convert it
39:31
into a storytelling, bro.
39:33
Thank you. And I can't wait to see what's next, brother. Thank you,
39:37
brother. Thank you so much, brother. Much love, man. I really appreciate you.
39:41
Familia, that's what you call a beautiful conversation.
39:45
I don't want to tell him while he was on the screen, but Mo's probably one of
39:48
my favorite comedians out there right now.
39:51
His work is incredible. His shows are incredible. It's stand-up. And...
39:56
It kind of goes to show, I think my big takeaway is like when you're authentic
40:00
with your story, you connect so much more.
40:04
Be authentic with your story, man. I think everybody out here,
40:07
especially on the Instagram world, is trying to fake it, you know,
40:11
flaunt it and put something out that's actually not you.
40:14
Be you, be authentic, and then share that with the world and see how much you shine.
40:19
And now I want to bring up the brother Raja Wala, who's the Vice President of
40:24
Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy at NILC, who's going to share a little bit
40:28
more about his thoughts on the conversation with Mo and also just on the work that NILC is doing.
40:34
Raja, welcome to the show, brother. Thank you so much, Hector.
40:39
You heard the conversation with Mo. One question I ask you, what's one of the
40:44
takeaways you're going to have from some of the things that he put out there from his sharing?
40:48
Yeah, I mean, I think it was really, for me, the power of story, right?
40:52
And Mo's story himself is so powerful and has been an inspiration for me as well.
40:57
You know, Palestine and the cause of Palestine has been near and dear to my heart.
41:02
It was like the reason that I became a political guy. It was the inspiration
41:06
for becoming a human rights lawyer.
41:08
But also more generally, you know, you asked Mo, is he considering himself a
41:12
political activist, right?
41:13
And he said, no, you know, I just tell stories and I make them funny and,
41:17
and that's what translates.
41:18
And I think that really is something that I've seen borne out in our advocacy time.
41:22
And again, you know, we think, okay, we're just going to win the argument and
41:26
that'll be the end of the story, but no, you gotta, you gotta win hearts and minds.
41:29
Right. And we know from our experience from working on these campaigns that
41:33
in order to get at the, at the minds, you gotta win the hearts first.
41:37
Right. And that's right. People in the fields.
41:41
Yeah, because facts doesn't always do it, man. A lot of times it's who has the better story.
41:47
And I think comedians do a wonderful job of telling a good story,
41:51
you know, and I feel like Mo is a great example of that, you know,
41:54
and he's been able to humanize and elevate the immigrant story,
41:59
you know, so we can actually like see folks.
42:01
And it's not just this sort of like immigrants are this, but when you tell an
42:05
immigrant story on TV, you can actually like empathize.
42:08
You could see them. You could cry with them, laugh with them.
42:11
That's kind of what the show did for me, man. And it was beautiful. Beautiful.
42:15
You know, we talked a little bit about just the complexity of the immigration system, right?
42:23
And how that shows up in his show and his comedy.
42:26
I'd like if you could Share a little bit about You know The immigration system
42:32
And coming in the right way How difficult Or how easy Is it really When people
42:37
just say Can you just come in the right way.
42:40
Right. Well, there's no easy part of that equation. That's for sure.
42:44
I've seen the show and I got to say it does a brilliant job.
42:49
It's not trying to be like realistic per se, but I think it just does a really
42:54
good job capturing a particular slice of the immigrant experience.
42:58
One thing that Mo did touch on that I thought was super important was that there's
43:02
no singular immigrant experience. I come from a family of refugees,
43:07
asylum seekers, immigrants, and they all have their own story.
43:10
They all have their own struggles.
43:12
Some have it easier than others, but there's no easy way in.
43:15
There's no easy path in. And especially in this day and age where immigrants
43:19
are being demonized, where it's increasingly hard to get any semblance of justice
43:25
if you're an immigrant in this country.
43:27
And heck, even if you're not an immigrant, you can be an American citizen that's
43:30
black or brown or maybe speaks with an accent.
43:33
You're liable to be picked up without a warrant, potentially abused,
43:36
potentially thrown in jail. And so these are dark times for sure And I think
43:42
that in these dark times We need moments of levity and lightness, right?
43:45
And I think that's why we have, you know, comedy And it exists to really kind
43:50
of give us that sense of You know, yes, this is dark, heavy stuff And we can
43:55
make light of it And we can get through and see that light at the end of the
43:58
tunnel If we're able to just kind of.
44:00
You know Really be honest about what we're seeing Both the good and the bad,
44:05
Yeah, yeah Gracias, brother Thank you so much, man.
44:09
Is there anything you can share with us?
44:12
About the work you're doing right now with NILC, with the strategy and partnerships,
44:16
people you're working with, allies.
44:18
What is NILC looking at doing over the next couple of months in regards to what's
44:22
going on in the country's immigration system?
44:25
Well, really the way that we're thinking about this is this is a fight for our
44:29
democracy against authoritarianism.
44:31
And as Kika, our president and CEO, likes to say, the path to authoritarianism
44:36
is being built on the back of immigrant communities.
44:39
And it starts with immigrants, but it's not going to end with immigrants.
44:41
And so what we've done at NILC is build out a democracy defense initiative that
44:46
really gets at the key levers of authoritarianism and what we can do to stop that.
44:53
And that's going to require partnerships with not just immigrant communities
44:57
on the ground across the country, but also friends,
45:00
family members and allies in our sister and brother movements to be able to
45:05
stand up and say, yes, this is an attack on immigrants now, but an attack on
45:10
immigrants is an attack on all of us. as Americans.
45:12
And so that's what we're really focused on here at NILC.
45:16
We've got a lot of other great programs that we'd love to get into more and
45:20
later episodes, but just wanted to leave you with that tidbit.
45:24
All right. And people can go to nilc.org.
45:30
Not com, everybody. nilc.org. N-I-L-C.org. And they have Know Your Rights information.
45:36
They have the campaigns they're working on.
45:39
So definitely check them out for more information. Raja, thank you so much, brother. Gracias.
45:44
Familia, thanks for listening to this episode of NILC's Freedom to Thrive podcast.
45:49
Resistance, justice, resilience. To learn more about the work NILC is doing,
45:55
visit nilc.org. And don't forget to subscribe for future episodes.